Goat cheees and tomato tarts

GOAT CHEESE AND TOMATO TARTS.


Looking for another use for that homemade goat cheese? How about a tart. All fluffy and golden in puff pastry. Buttery crust, goat cheese center and the tomato on top that roasts when in the oven. It's all goodness.




In one of previous posts I wrote about making the goat cheese which in itself was pretty special. But then you gotta figure out what to do with the stuff when you get tired of eating it on crackers. Who does that? Gets tired of eating it on crackers I mean. Anyway... I decided to give the tart a try. I love the summer tomatoes and anything in puff pastry is a winner in my book. I gotta say.....another really really really good tasting dish. For this recipe I took the plain goat cheese and added some chopped herbs to it. Any herbs that you like would work.

I made the tarts large and served them with a salad for dinner. We love eating this way. We opened a bottle of wine to go with it and the result was two happy campers. Now I admit the puff pastry is rather high calarie but the total meal itself was light so we had room for dessert. Yea! My favorite.

Here is the basic recipe. Again....the exact amounts are approximate. You can play around with this somewhat. One sheet of puff pasty makes two large tarts. If you want to use the entire package of pastry, two sheets, that would make four tarts so simply double the recipe.

• 1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted
• 1 tablespoon olive oil for onion, plus a little more to drizzle
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 2 cups onions, sliced
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 2 ounces herb goat cheese
• 1 large tomato sliced into 4 slices
• parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper
  

Defrost the puff pastry but keep in the refrig nicely chilled until ready to use. To make the tart shells cut the sheet in half then work with each half sheet to make two large tarts. From the half sheet cut a thin sprip all the way around. The thin strip then gets put on top on the base. This creates an edge and when the pastry bakes it puffs up. It allows your filling to stay in the shell and it adds a little crunch around the edges. The pastry sheets should be placed on a parchment lined baking sheet. You can assemble them right on the baking sheet. If you don't use the pastry right away put it back in the frig to keep chilled.

In a medium saute pan add 1 tbsp of both olive oil and butter, the onions and thyme. Saute the onions until carmelized approximately 20 minutes being careful not to allow the butter to burn. Add the garlic and cook just until softened. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside for assembly.


The general idea is that you are building layers for the tart. Start with the puff pastry shell. Prepare as above. Add the goat cheese evenly on the bottom. Top each with 2 slices of tomato. Drizzle with small amount of olive oil. Top with grated parmesan cheese.

I can't end this without giving you an out. If you don't make the goat cheese I suppose it would be ok to use store bought. But don't tell anyone.


Aren't the pictures pretty?